Six people, believed to be Indian workers, were killed and 44 others injured when a bus carrying them to a refinery crashed into a truck in the UAE.
The accident took place yesterday near Ruwais, about 240 km west of UAE capital Abu Dhabi, police said.
Although the police are yet to identify those killed, eyewitnesses said all the deceased are believed to be Indian workers.
"A truck and a bus, transporting workers to their workplace, were involved in the crash that claimed at least six lives," an Abu Dhabi police official told mediapersons.
A Ruwais resident, who claims to have seen the accident, said the bus was full and was transporting around 50 workers from a labour accommodation in Gayathi to a refinery.
Among the 44 people injured in the crash, 24 sustained severe to medium injuries.
The accident apparently happened when the bus was trying to take a U-turn from the Gayathi road to the road that leads to Ruwais, and the truck rammed the bus.
Those injured in the accident were rushed to Gayathi, Mafraq, Madinat Zayed and Ruwais hospitals by the police ambulance, the official said.
Traffic police are investigating the cause of the crash, he said, adding, preliminary data indicates that it was the bus driver's fault.
"He seems to have entered the main road without taking care, which led to the collision with the truck," he said.
An Indian worker who reached the spot while the rescue operations were on told the media that the police had to break open the body of the bus to rescue the workers trapped inside the bus.
The damaged bus was seen several metres away from the accident spot, apparently flung by the impact of the collision.
